Ghaziabad: Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) generated 80% more development fee revenue between April and Aug as compared to the same period last year.Development fee refers to charges which GDA levies on developers of construction projects.An official said the Authority generated Rs 71 crore this time. Last year, the revenue generated during the same time was only Rs 31 crore. “This year, the revenue generation was the highest in July and August. We believe this was caused by simplifying cess and charge collecting mechanism and letting other bodies grant NOCs apart from GDA’s enforcement wing. It ensured pending dues were collected on time,” he said.Another reason, he added, was real estate growth, with UPRera registering 19 projects worth Rs 3,989 crore in Ghaziabad between January and July. “The real estate sector is on a steady road to recovery,” he said.Experts, however, said the surge can be attributed to the state govt’s development fee hike in April this year.“On the direction of the state govt, GDA had increased charges on multiple heads, which include development, permit and inspection fees for FY 2026-27. This fiscal, they have been increased based on plot sizes, which has led to GDA mopping up about Rs 71 cr just in four months. The revised fee and charge structure had come into effect on April 1 this year and GDA’s revenue surplus coincided with the same time period,” said Ashish Kumar, a real estate watcher.The development charge was hiked to Rs 10,358 for land parcels of up to 1 hectare. Between 1 hectare and 2.5 hectares, it was increased to Rs 20,716. For land parcels of size 2.5 to 5 hectares, it rose to Rs 31,074, and for those over 5 hectares, it was increased at a rate of an additional Rs 15,537 every 5 hectares.Earlier, the development fee used to be Rs 10,000 for land parcels of up to 1 hectare, Rs 20,000 for those spanning 1 to 2.5 hectares, and Rs 30,000 for those measuring over 2.5 hectares to 5 hectares, with an additional Rs 15,000 for every 5 hectares of plot size.
